The Fear of Difficulty

The last time I checked most of the things worth accomplishing in life were not easy. Take for example, graduating from high school, making money, or being a successful athlete. All of these things require an investment of time and energy to be accomplished. Why is it though that we think life should be easy and we shouldn’t have to try hard anymore?

I see this way too often with my students. Sure the end goal is to graduate with a degree, but they lose sight so easily when they have one professor they do not like or one assignment that is a little tough. What has happened to the drive to accomplish a goal no matter what obstacles are in the way? Even worse, why do people give up so easily? When I was in school I just did what I had to pass the class. My Granny taught me at a very young age that you have to do many things in life you don’t want to but you do them anyway. Are people not taught this anymore?

Are we instead taught that if there is not a way to “google” the answer that it is not out there? Do life lessons now include the specific instructions every time and not just a guideline? Is the new thought “when the going gets tough, give up”?

Perhaps what we now have as a society is a fear of difficulty. This is a fear that causes us to avoid things that do not come easily and an apathy regarding doing things that might be difficult. We also refuse to change because it is difficult. Instead of trying to put for the time and effort to do something we just avoid it.

What if instead we faced our fear and tried to do more things that required more effort? What harm can be done by doing something that was difficult instead of trying to take the easy way out? Is it really possible as a society to face our fear of difficulty? I think so and I hope so. I believe it we did actually face this fear of difficulty; we would shocked about how much we can actually accomplish.

Therefore, I encourage us as the average Americans to not be put off by things that do not appear easy at first. We should try for things that take a little more effort and take on new challenges on a regular basis. Sometimes once you get started you realize it was not as difficult as you feared, after all.